Sound deadening sheet metal construction material



Feb. 24, 1970 wNK 3,497,o3o

SOU ND DEADENING SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Filed Aug. 29. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l NVENTOR.

JACK WINSK ATTORNEY Feb. 24, 1970 J. wNsK & 9

SOUND DEADENING SHEET METAL -CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Filed Aug. 29, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.3

INVENTOR.

JA CK WIN SKI wa ?AM ATYTORNEY United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 181--33 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sheet metal Construction material for trailers, mobile homes and the like in which a plurality of strips or a single wide strip is Secured to the inner side of the sheet metal material. The material is preferably of a fibrous nature and is secured to the sheet metal material by cement or any other suitable tacky material.

Sheet metal material is often used on the roofing and siding of trailers and mobile homes, and this material may be either wide single sheet material or a fabricated type in which wide sheets of the material are formed by a series of strips connected to one another by sealed joints. When the material is installed on the vehicle, it is normally uncoiled from a roll and placed on the roof, for example, from one end of the vehicle to the other and from one side to the other as a single sheet. In order toprevent leaking, the material is Secured only at the edges, leaving the entire center portion unsecured and merely resting on the structural frame member or sheeting of the' roof. Since the metal roofing material is relatively stitf, it often is partially self-supporting so that it will not Iie flat against the frame or sheeting and will tend to fle'x outwardly and inwardly with the variations in air pressure created primarily by the wind, producing a frequent or constant noise easily audible within the living space of the vehicle. In the past the occupants of mobile homes and trailers have endeavored to overcome this difliculty and eliminate the noise by covering the roof with said dirt or gravel or other heavy objects or material. This method has not only been inconvenient and ineflective but has occasionally caused damage to the supporting structure by the excess weight on the frame members which were not designed to support the heavy loads. It is therefore one of the principal objects of the nvention to provide a roofing material of the aforementioned type which includes means for eliminating or minimizing the efi'ect of wind pressurcs on the material and thereby eliminating the noise caused by flexing of the material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means which minimizes the noise of the aforementioned type of roofing material in the wind by deadening the material so that flexing of the installed material creates little or no sound, and which can be incorporated in the roofing material during normal fabrication thereof.

Still another object is to provide sheet metal roofing material having a sound control material on the inner side which minimizes the efiect of the material flexing in response to wind currents over the surface thereof, and which can be easily attached to the material and coiled along with the sheet metal material for compact handling, shipping and storage.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying draWings, wherein:

F IGURE 1 is a perspective View of a mobile home showing the present sheet metal roofing material thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of the inner side of the roofing material shown in FIGURE 1 3,497,030 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational View of the material shown in FIGURE 2, the View being taken from line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on line 4 4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the section shown in FIGURE 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings and to FIG- URE 1 in particular, numeral 10 indicates generally a trailer, mobile home or other vehicle having the present roofing, identified by numeral 12, installed thereon. The roofing shown is a large section covering the entire roof of the vehicle and is of a fabricated type using a number of strips 14 of sheet metal in parallel, side-by-side arrangement joined together by a series of joints therebetween, indicated by numeral 16. The sheet material sections consist of standard sheet metal, preferably of 28 or 30 inch widths of 12 to 20 gauge material, and the width of the gauge may vary from one panel to another depending upon the intended installation of the final panel. The sheet material is normally of standard galvanized material supplied in large rolls from which sections of the desired length to produce the required width of panel are severed.

Joint 16 used in securing sections 14 together in the manner shown in FIGURE 2 consists of flanges 20 and 22 turned into a U-shaped form to overlap the adjacent side of the respective section 12. The free edges of flanges 20 and 22 are preferably initially spaced from the body portion of the sections 14 a substantial distance in order to permit assembly of the joints. The edges of panels 14 are placed side by side, preferably substantially together, and a slip cap 24, having a back 26 and two inwardly extending flanges 28 and 30, is slppecl longitudinally along flanges 20 and 22 with flanges 28 and 30 being positioned between the flanges .on the panel sections and the mam body portion of the panel sections. After the slip cap has been assembled, the joint is rolled or otherwise pressed, bending the two flanges together and against the respective portions of the panel sections and slip cap, resulting in a firmly interlocked structure securely held together by the slip cap. When the joint has been formed in the foregong manner, the two panel sec-tions are rigidly held together and prevented from slipping or otherwise moving either longitudinally or transversely in the joint relative to one another. A sealing material is preferably used between the ends of the two sections and within the folds of the joint to render the joint completely watertight, even though the joint may be detormed during installation on the vehicle.

The material formed in the foregong manner is sound-proofed by the use of a plurality of spaced strips 40, 42, and 44, as shown in FIGURE 2, running the full length of the panel and transverse to metal sections 14 and joints 16. These strips may be of any fibrous or plastic material such as woven tape, tar paper, cloth and the like, preferably treated with a material which in itself will secure the strips to the underside of panel 12. However, if the material is not impregnated, or if the impregnating material is not sufficiently tacky to secure the strips to the panel, a separate cement or other suitable composition may be used to attach the strips firmly to the under side of the panel. The strips may be of various thicknesses or layers; however, normally these strips would not be more than one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The width of :the strips may be varied and they may be spaced at various distances apart depending upon the nature of the strip material and the roofing structure on which the material is installed.

The strip material is applied during the fabrication of the roofing material, which is normally coiled into a roll with the strip material attached to the metal. When the 'roof of the trailer or mobile home and Secured at the edges of the panel to the vehicle.

After the material has been Secured in place and subjected to wind current, the strip material 40, 42, and 44 will not only decrease flexing but will deaden the sound so that the eifect of any flexing will not create disturbing noise in the living space of the vehicle. While the panel as shown in FIGURE 2 contains three strips on the under side thereof, one strip covering substantially the entire inner surface maybe used or a series of narrower strips in greater numbers may be used in place of those shown. The strips do not interfere with the normal construction practices involved in applying the roofing material to the vehicle, and do not substantially increase the weight of the vehicle roof.

While the strips 40, 42, and 44 have been described herein as of fibrous material such as a cloth composition or the like, they 'may be of a material capable of being sprayed onto the inner surface of the panel forming a continuous layer from one end of the panel to the other, preferably with substantial spaces between the strips of the sprayed material. Although only one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail herein, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. While the roo-fing material shown in the drawings and described herein consists of a fabricated type having a plurality of sections joined together along their edges, the present invention is equally applicable to a single wide continuous sheet of metal.

I claim:

1. A sheet metal construction material for trailers, mobile homes and like vehicles, comprising a panel of metal sheet material having an external and an internal side and composed of a plurality of parallel transversely arranged sections joined at their edges by a seam structure consistng of a U-shaped flange on adjacent edges of the sections on the external side thereof, a cap having inwardly turned fianges interlocking with the flanges on said sections, and'a plurality of spaced strips of sound deadening material attached to said inner side and extending substantially the full length of said panel and positioned to engage the supporting structure of the construction material.

2. A sheet metal construction material as defined in claim 1 in which said strips are spaced a substantial distance from one another.

3. A sheet metal construction material as defined in claim lin which said strip material is of a fibrous character Secured by a material to the inner side of said panel.

4. A` sheet metal construction material as defined in claim 2 in which said strip material is of a fibrous character Secured by a material to the inner side of said panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,415 10/ 1932 Vrooman. 2,008,655 7/1935 ClarVoe. 2,069,413 2/ 1937 Leadbetter. 2,10*4,989 1/1938 Hicks 296-137 2,365,934 12/1944 Black 296-137 2,823,951 2/1958 Stahl. 2,974,078 3/1961 Petritz et al. 296--137 XR 3,160,549 12/1964 Caldwell et al. 3, l 93,049 7/ 1965 Wollek. 3,205,97Z 9/1965 Stricker et al. 3,217,832 11/1965 Whitney.

FOREIGN PATENTS 388,619 3/1933 Great Britain. 513,171 10/ 1939 Great Britain.

ROBERT S. WARD, JR., Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. S.R. 296-- 39, 137 

